Tada driver warned after allegedly driving off without picking up passenger, leaving him with S$21 waiting fee

Shortly after booking a ride on Tada to pick him up at Ubi Crescent, the man was notified by the ride-hailing app that his driver had arrived.

But he could not find the assigned car.

When he texted the driver, asking which side of the pick-up point he was at, there was allegedly no reply.

About three minutes later, the driver's location on the app started moving further and further away, the passenger told Mothership.

He continued to wait, and soon the Tada app notified him that a waiting-time fee had been added to his ride because he had supposedly let the driver wait for him at the pick-up point.

This fee went up over time until it reached S$21 for a 29-minute wait, before the driver eventually cancelled the booking.

Waiting fee

The passenger, who is the content creator behind the account SGMustWatchLa, told Mothership that he was a regular Tasa user, spending almost S$2,000 every month on its ride-hailing services to commute.

"Ride-hailing [is] more convenient and faster for me," he explained. "More private, too."

He booked this ride on Jun. 10 at around 4:40pm, for a fare of S$11.81.

The waiting fee would have been added on top of this fare, he said in an Instagram post about the incident afterwards.

In response to Mothership's queries, Tada said that no waiting fee was charged to the passenger.

This is because the trip did not proceed and was eventually cancelled, according to their investigations.

"Playing a waiting game"

Nonetheless, he expressed frustration in his post, saying that the driver had "almost cheated [him]...because of a Tada loophole".

"He started playing [a] waiting game with me," he wrote.

He believes the driver was just behind the building where the pick-up point was.

"I don't understand why he can't just make a turn and come over," the passenger told Mothership. "I specifically walked behind the building to find him too. But it was too late. He had already driven off."

According to screenshots from the app, when the driver had been waiting for 17 minutes, the passenger claimed the driver appeared to be in the Bedok area.

As the waiting time approached 29 minutes, the driver appeared to have moved farther away toward Tampines.

Trip cancelled

After the driver cancelled the booking, the passenger booked a Grab ride to his destination instead.

When asked whether he and the Tada driver had contacted each other after the incident, he told Mothership they had not, and that he did not know how to contact the driver.

Tada's response

The passenger said he has reported the incident to Tada.

According to a screenshot seen by Mothership, the company replied on Jun. 12 and apologised.

"We have reviewed the incident and will be addressing this matter directly with the driver, reminding them of the importance of providing a professional and pleasant experience for all riders," they wrote in the email.

They will continue to monitor the driver's account and take further action if necessary.

Following a review of the trip, Tada told Mothership that the incident appears to have "arisen from challenges during the pick-up process".

"As this was the driver's first such incident, we have issued a warning and reminded him of our service expectations," the company said.

They have also provided the passenger with a S$10 ride voucher.